


How the Niccoló Stole Christmas

by Geneviev



Category: Percy Jackson and the Olympians - Rick Riordan
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Gods (Percy Jackson), Awkward Romance, Christmas Fluff, Crack Treated Seriously, Happy Ending, How Do I Tag, How The Grinch Stole Christmas, I Blame Tumblr, M/M, Mutual Pining, Out of Character, mentions of bullying
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-23
Updated: 2020-12-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:14:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,618
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28265982
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Geneviev/pseuds/Geneviev
Summary: When Jason Ze Whose met with the Niccoló, he could not anticipate what will happen in the course of a few days. Especially not a love story between two elementary school sweethearts, who were torn apart because of ruthless bullying.I wish you happy holidays with this How the Grinch Stole Christmas and Percy Jackson crossover.
Relationships: Nico di Angelo/Percy Jackson
Comments: 6
Kudos: 24





	How the Niccoló Stole Christmas

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Bleu_Sulfur](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Bleu_Sulfur/gifts), [vindice](https://archiveofourown.org/users/vindice/gifts).



It happened inside a snowflake, just like the one that fell on your cheek: the tale about how the Niccoló stole, and in consequence, saved Christmas. How he became the most desired, most handsome What that ever lived in the surrounding area of Whoville. How I got... I mean, how the _boy_ got _him_ , after many, many years of yearning and pinning.

I must say, it is a truly fascinating story, with drama, intrigue, competitiveness, and crime, sprinkled with some Christmas magic, found family, and romance! Not because I’m in a very, very, very close relationship with the Niccoló, of course not. I’m impartial, I’m just the narrator, who is telling the story. Not the protagonist, no, sire. I don’t have a name, I don’t have a story, so how could you insinuate that my name is Niccoló - Nico for friends -, and that it is my tale?!

Outrageous!

But where did I left the storytelling? Oh, right.

In a tiny, white snowflake, an intriguing story happened. In the mountains, always full of snow, laid a small town, called Whoville; the home of the Whos. Who were the Whos? Well, they were tiny creatures that were always disgustingly cheerful, had over the top hairdos, and were crazy about Christmas. If you asked any Who, and they would agree that there was no being who loved Christmas more than they did. There was no place like Whoville during the holiday time: every window was full of decoration, every lamppost was dressed in greens and reds, every house was lit up with Christmas lights.

Every Who loved Christmas like nothing else - every Who, except for one. The Niccoló, who lived in a cave, up the mountain just north of Whoville, did not. (That’s an understatement. He hated it with every inch of his body. He got rash just for thinking about Christmas. He was disgusted by the Christmas carols, the bright colors, and the useless junks which found their way up to the landfill.)

Christmas was the season for giving, the time for being cheerful, and receiving more and more pointless gifts, and eating more food than it was healthy. Every Christmas was the same. Every Christmas, except for the one I’m about to tell you.

In the middle of the Christmas preparation of the Whos, the Niccoló decided to visit the town and cause a bit of mischief. Usually, he hated to go there during festive times, but he felt an unscratchable itch in his… backside… to do something. Preferably something that would make the Whos scream in fright. Something, that would disrupt their perfect little life… for example screwing up their posts.

Plan already forming in his mind, the Niccoló headed down to the town in a disguise - well, face mask and cape, but it is not like the Whos would recognize anything other than their own reflection. The Whos were too stupid to notice anything out of ordinary, and anyway, they were too busy buying useless stuff for way too much money. To pass the time with useful activities, during his way to the post office he managed to cause some trouble with some more or less vicious pranks. (They were perfectly harmless. It is not like he would have foreseen that kicking a stone would lead to a streetfight between two little boys, a puppy, and a grandma. Who grandmas are scary.) 

The streets of the village were unusually crowded, it made poor Niccoló, and his loyal dog, Cerberus anxious. They weren’t used to that buzzing, nor the streets full of flittering Whos. The post office, on the other hand, was quiet and peaceful. Well, not for too long, because soon the room was loud with: “Eviction notice!”, “Jury duty!”, “Blackmail!”, “Spam!”, "Check!”, "EXcommunication!", and “Divorce papers!”. It was a really fun game to swap all letters into different boxes and mixing them with letters that nobody wants to get.

What would you do if you got a letter, describing all your dirty little secrets that you thought you threw all of the evidence into the trash, but it turned out that it landed on the top of somebody, who is not shy to use it against you? (Literally. The trash fell on the Niccoló's head.)

The landfill was a treasure mine for the Niccoló; he feasted from the perfectly eatable food the Whos threw away, he got his pieces of furniture from there, and there were nice little gems as confirmation that the Whos were NOT good people. They called m… the _What_ the Niccoló; they turned his name into a cruel term for a person, who is mean-spirited and wicked, but the residents of Whoville were just as bad as he was. Or worse: they were cruel and bullies.

Well, not all of them…

A tiny blond boy, not older than eight Christmas old, was nice. It was a strange meeting of two lost souls: one of them was bitter, hateful, and small-hearted, the other naive, yet jaded by the overspending and loneliness. I could even call their meeting as fated - but I won’t.

The little boy, Jason Ze Whose was the youngest son of the postman, and to find some respite among the loud and rowdy crowd, he withdrew into the background, where he experienced something incredible: he was pushed into a pit, he was saved by the Niccoló, and he was wrapped into shiny red wrapping paper. All just in a few minutes.

I would never understand how, but this was the moment where the half-pint Who decided that the Niccoló was not that bad. He was mayhaps good. He pushed the midget into a machine where he could have been crushed to death, and the dimwit boy thought the Niccoló was a good person. That the Niccoló wanted to save him. Wrong-o. I… he would never do something like that! Unmistakably, the boy had problems with his head.

That was the first time they met, but not the last. Not by far. The midget was unscrappable. He was like a leech: he found somebody to disturb, he stuck to them and would not let them go until they grew back the miniature heart which was reduced by hard work.

For example, he invited the Niccoló to be the Holiday Cheermeister. The Niccoló. As the Holiday Cheermeister. As I mentioned - Jason Ze Whose was a bit of a dimwit. The Niccoló had enough programs, he had no room for some idiotic festive thing. He had to wallow in self-pity, he had to inspect his one-third sized heart, and he had to, of course, solve global warming (but tell no one!). Yet, he still found a free period between his wrestling with self-loathing and building a particle accelerator to visit the Whos.

They were…

They were as awful as always.

The "new" wife of his dead father, Persephone Wholympian, was still alive, still kicking and trying to suffocate him with his big tits and flowy hair.

His biggest bully, Luke Castwhollan was the mayor and was still a big, spoiled butthole. What a surprise.

The citizens were loud and judgemental and were absolutely unbearable. But the worst thing? The worst thing was when Castwhollan proposed to… when he proposed to another old acquaintance.

Okay, okay, he proposed to Percy Don Wholympian, the cousin of Persephone, and the love of the Niccoló’s life. There, I said it!

The Niccoló was definitely not heartbroken, his action to light the Christmas tree on fire was absolutely not because of his hopelessness. He just realized that the Whos would never change and that there is no reason to do anything nice for them. They were selfish, egoistic assholes, who had no regard for others. They were just as bad as they were when he was a child.

When he lost his mother when she fell from one of the mountains, when his father got another wife without asking him about it, when he lost his father and his sister at the same time due to an accident on the lake, nobody cared. When he was bullied in school for being strange and not like the others, nobody cared. When everybody laughed at him for giving the most popular boy a handmade Christmas gift and was showed to the pine tree by Castwhollean several times, nobody cared.

So was it surprising that when his biggest bully proposed to the only person who seemed to like him a teeny-tiny bit, nobody cared?

Whatever. That is in the past. Everything is in the past. Just as the next night, when the Niccoló stole the Christmas is in the past. Ugh, okay, I know you want to hear some more about that time, you curious little creature! I'll tell you about it.

The Niccoló, after dramatically marched out, accompanied by explosions and blazing fire, he returned to his loyal company, Cerberus. But his cave didn’t give him the desired peace: he could hear the noisy, loud, cheerful singing voice of the Whos. It was getting louder and louder, which drove him insane - or insaner.

The annoying songs added to the stress, and he baked up a plan. Az evil, insane, evinsane plan. He stitched red coat and red trousers, lined with white fur; he built a self-driving sleight; he put a red nose on Cerberus’ nose. And he flew to Whoville to steal every present, every tree, every crumb of the festive food. The trashy decors went where they belonged: to the rubbish. It went uninterrupted - except when Jason Ze Whose woke up and almost recognized him as the Niccoló, instead of Santa Clause. But the Niccoló was a crafty man, a genius, really, and could lie his way out of the frying pan.

He filled his sleigh to the brim, stealing everything. He intended to dump them into the abyss from the top of his mountain. He had every intention to do it. Until Jason Ze, once again, prevented him from doing it. The midget stood on the top of the bag, almost dying doing so. The Niccoló almost had a heart attack as his heart became a few sizes bigger when he pulled back the machine. The muscles on his arms were strained as he tried to stop the sleight from falling down. It was not what he expected when he planned out his crazy idea. Nor was getting a boyfriend out of it.

It was… a lot. He, a lonely, strange boy, who had no blood family left, who was bullied for his whole life, got a boyfriend and a nice family out of a screwed-up Christmas.

And this was the tale of the hated Niccoló, who became Nico, the favorite gloomy inhabitant of Whoville, the boyfriend of the new mayor, Percy Don Wholympian. 

_ \---*---*---*--- _

_ The lights were blinding him. He loved the Christmas lights, he lived for them, but right now they were felt like spotlights to make sure everybody sees how he falls from grace. He tried to speak, but the words were stuck in his throat. Percy Don Wholympian, the Who who could talk his way out of everything, was silent. The band was still playing, forcing him to make a choice which will affect his whole life, in front of the whole town. The cheerful voice of the trumpet, the silent crowd, the expectant eyes of Luke, the disappointed gaze of Nico… _

_ Everything felt too much. _

_ Percy Don Wholympian always prided himself on being adroit, his quick-thinking and crafty ideas were a sight to behold. He was popular because he helped the others, but was not a stuck-up. His mother thought him to be the best at everything, to have an answer and solution to every problem. Yet right now he had no other solution, only to punch Luke Castwhollean into his face. _

_ How could he do that to him?! They were friends, right. They were close to each other since Thalia’s disappearance, but doing this?! _

_ He dared to propose to him?! In front of everyone? Using the Whobilation as an excuse to make a spectacle out of something so private? In front of Nico, after humiliating him?! _

_ Percy’s eyes helplessly went to the one person he never thought he would ever see again but hoped for. The Niccoló wasn’t even looking at him. He was looking at anywhere else, just not at Percy, but the Who knew what he saw before. The hurt. The pain. _

_ Maybe Nico-? _

_ Nico liked him as much as he liked the reclusive Christmas-hater? _

_ \---*---*---*--- _

_ “No, Percy is not an idiot. He would not climb the mountain, let alone for that Niccoló boy,” Annabeth declared. Her tone held no doubt, but Percy wasn’t so sure about that. He did some pretty unwholike things before, maybe he will climb up the mountain, find Nico’s cave, and… and what? _

Nico hates you, you know that _ , his inner voice reminded him. Of course, Nico hated him. He never said anything, he never did anything when the bullying became too much for him to handle. When he threw away everything, and ran away, up in the mountains. He was just as bad as the others. _

_ Not doing anything is part of the problem, after all. _

_ “I hope not. I would hate if he would miss the Christmas dance because he was feeling nostalgic,” Luke exclaimed and hugged Percy’s shoulders. He hated to feel those arms around him, but they were friends, and friends tend to hug, right? So he bared it with a straight face, even if he wanted nothing more than run to their place, and spend a nice lunch with Nico. _

_ But he could never do that anymore. Nico was missing, and he was surrounded by his friends who were helping him how to be a better Who for his mother. Sally Lou Wholympian got many complaints over the years about Percy and his behavior, and he didn’t want to cause more problems for her.  _

_ “I’m not feeling nostalgic. The Niccoló ran away, he is no interest for me anymore,” he declared, but all of it was just bravado. He missed the black-eyed Who… What… as nothing before. He wanted to see the other, touch him, share food with him. He wanted his friend back. _

_ “Yeah, he was so weird. You don’t need him to drag you down,” Thalia chimed in. Everybody nodded, but Percy just smiled, while he chewed the inside of his mouth as hard as he could. Maybe physical pain would help with the psychological one. Right? _

_ He missed him. He liked him. _

_ But that horrible day happened, and he did nothing. _

_ He didn’t deserve Nico. Nobody in Whoville deserved him. _

_ \---*---*---*--- _

_ The first time they talked was because of his strange taste in blue food. The other Whokids found his love for blue food strange, and while they never said anything about it, he knew that Annabeth and Thalia were disgusted by it. So, he tended to eat alone when his mother packed him something blue, but when he saw the strange boy, sitting alone, he decided to talk to him.  _

_ He seemed interesting. _

_ And Percy liked the pitch-black eyes, which should have been scary, but looked really nice on the other boy. _

_ “Mind if I join you?” He asked. The other boy scrutinized him distrustfully, probably waiting for a punchline. Why would a more-or-less popular boy talk with him, right? He scowled at him, but Percy was no gentlewho, he scowled back and plopped down next to him on the grass. _

_ “I didn’t say you could do it,” he glared, which made his black eyes even scarier, but because his cheeks still had the baby fat on them, he just looked adorable. Percy’s heart gave a funny flip, but he didn’t concentrate on that - he had a boy to pester. _

_ “But you didn’t say that I couldn't do it either,” he answered cheekily. He heard a murmured “whatever”, which he considered as a win. _

_ “Why not sit with those snob little Whos?” The black-eyed boy asked suspiciously. The aforementioned Whos were nowhere to be seen, but that did not mean that they were not waiting for him to lower his guard and bully him. _

_ “They don’t like it when somebody is a bit odd. I like eating blue food, it is a thing between my mother and me, but they find it strange, so usually, I eat alone. I’m Percy, by the way. Percy Don Wholympian,” the blue-loving Who introduced himself. _

_ “Hm,” noted the other. There was a silence for a while, then he said, “Nico.” Percy’s face brightened at that. Well, he knew who the other boy was, they were classmates, after all, but hearing it from the other was better. _

_ He opened his little box and was happy to find his favorite in it: blue pancake with bacon and sunny-side eggs and maple syrup and rösti with onion and cheese for the side dish. _

_ “Is that onion?” Asked Nico with raised eyebrows. “And blue pancake?” _

_ “Yeah, I know these are usually not mixed together, but I love them,” explained Percy, and dig in one of the slices of bacon. _

_ Nico scowled again, and looked at his box, filled with chocolate chip cookies, shortbread cookies, and oatmeal cookies. “Lucky you. My stepmother only gives me this sweet stuff. I want to eat something savory, but it’s like the only food existing for her is sweet, sweet, and sweet. Or salad out of flowers. I would even eat a salad made out of lettuce and ruccola, but no. It has to be out of carnation, cornflower, daisy, and marigold,” he moaned in desperation. If his glare could have, it would have burned all of his cookies with the intensity he glared at them. Percy, on the other hand, brightened. _

_ “Would you like to swap it? I would love to eat any of these cookies, and in exchange, I give you my rösti and the onions,” he offered. Nico looked at him suspiciously, but in the end, they swapped food and ate it in relaxed silence. _

_ It was a great day for both of them. _

_ \---*---*---*--- _

_ After everything happened, after the whole Holiday Cheermeister thing, the proposal, the night when the Niccoló stole Christmas, and the day when he saved it, their relationship just… bloomed. _

_ Percy always hoped for it but never dared to truly play with the thought that he will be forgiven, let alone becoming the boyfriend of the Niccoló. Nico. _

_ It was strange in the beginning. They could not continue as they did before, there was too much history between them, but they could not start a new beginning either. But Percy gave thanks to everything helping him, that their relationship not withered because of the initial problems, but made it even stronger. _

_ The thing that helped them the most, was the thing which was the last drop in the glass. The thing, that led to Nico ran away from everything and everyone. _

_ A little Christmas gift, made with love and care by a young Who, who fell in love with the prettiest Who in his class. _

_ An angel from an angel, Percy always thought. Nico was called Nico di Angelwho, after all. _

_ He kept it for years, and he used the decor as the top decoration for his tree. Whatever his color theme was that year, it meant nothing concerning the angel; that was always on top. Which was a shock to everybody, who saw the otherwise beautifully decorated tree, but he never took it down. It was a memory of Nico - a beautiful, yet heartbreaking memory. _

_ He was so used to see that strange little angel that he didn’t think any of it when Nico saw his tree for the first time Percy invited him to his home. But the silence was unusual, so he had to go back from the kitchen to the living room just to make sure Nico didn’t disappear. _

_ He didn’t. He just stood in front of the tree, staring intently at the top. _

_ “You… you kept it,” he said reverently. _

_ “Of course I did,” Percy folded his arms in front of him, his shoulders tense and defensive. It was his gift from him. No way in Krampus that he would throw it out. “I know it brings up bad memories for you, but… It was a gift. From you. It was the prettiest gift I’ve ever got!” He explained. _

_ Nico looked skeptical, raising his eyebrow at the crooked little angel, scrutinizing the cracks and chipped corners, its shattered face, but didn’t say anything. Percy felt his face flush, but he didn’t let his embarrassment take over. He knew he was too sentimental and emotional, but it was a gift from Nico, dammit! The only thing that was left from the black-eyed boy! _

_ “I can repair it. Or make a better one. I’m pretty dam good at building stuff, if I can say so,” Nico offered, and reached out to take the decoration off of the tree. _

_ “Don’t you dare to touch it!” Percy said it forcefully and pulled him away from the tree. “I won’t say no to additional gifts and decorations, but that stays as it is! It is my favorite Christmas decoration, and I won’t let you take it away from me,” he scowled at his boyfriend. It was idiotic to be so dependent on an old decoration, especially when he finally had his Nico back, but that little angel had so many memories connected to it, good and bad equally. _

_ “It made me remember you. I missed you. I love you,” he confessed. It was not the perfect time, nor the perfect place for it, but who cared about perfect? He had Nico! _

_ That was way better than “perfect”. _

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Holidays, dearies!
> 
> I'm terribly sorry for the fic, but if you are here, it means that you survived, and now maybe you will surprise me with a tiny feedback.  
> You can visit me on [Tumblr](https://justonemorechaptercoldflash.tumblr.com/)!! I do incorrect quotes and other crazy ficlets.  
> I never thought that my stray thought about Nico being the Grinch will materialize in a 3000+ words fic. I blame you - yes, you two know who you are! - for this xD
> 
> If anybody wants to correct my English, don't be shy, I would be happy for a beta reader, or somebody, who can help me with staying in the correct tense.


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